Roofing element



March 30, 1937. T, ROBINSON 2,075,058

ROOFING ELEMENT w@ if @5w/fm March 30, 1937. T. ROBINSON ROFING ELEMENTFiled Dec. 16 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 30, 1937 PATENT OFFICEaooFiNG ELEMENT Thomas Robinson, Smithtown, N. Y., assignor to LancasterProcesses Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New. York ApplicationDecember 16, 1935, Serial No. 54,645

11 claims. (ci. ins-s)v This invention relates to building products,such as roofing elements having the form of shingles or tiles, and isconcerned more particularly with a novel building product havingsuperior insulating qualities and made of a plastic material shaped toiinal form by extruding, pressing, molding, or other similar operations.The principles of the invention may be employed to special advantage inroong elements, and such elements embodying the invention will,accordingly, be illustrated and described in detail for purposes ofexplanation. It is to be understood, however, thatv the utility of theinvention is not limited to the particular purpose for which the 15 newproducts are to be used.

lating qualities.

A rooiing element embodying the invention comprises a body of plasticmaterial of plate-like form containing a series of air chambers or ductswhich lighten the element and add to its insu- The body is of decreasingthickness from one end to the other, and the ducts are of progressivelydecreasing cross-sectional area from the thick end toward the thin end.Preferably, the air chambers extend lengthwise of the body, in whichevent each air chamber decreases in cross-section from the thick end ofthe body toward the thin end, but if desired, the chambers may alsoextend cross-wise of the body in which case, the individual chambers areof uniform cross-section from end to end but successive chambers alongthe'body decrease in crosssection. The element also preferably has adecreased width from one end toward the other for a portion of itslength, the narrowest portion of such an element lying at the thick end,and the Y thin end portion being of substantially uniform width.

In forming 'a roof of the new elements, they are laid side by side withothers in overlapping courses with head-lap, the thick ends beingexposed and constituting the butts. The air charnbers are contained inthe exposed portion of each element and in the portion which is lappedbythe elements of the next adjacent course, the remaining portion ofeach'element, which is in the head-lap, being solid. When thus laid, thevelements provide a roof, all parts of which are covered by thechambered portions of at least two elements, so that theroof hasexcellent insulating qualities and transmits heat slowly.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to theaccompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan View of one form ofroofing element embodying the invention;

Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are sectional views on the lines 2 2, 3 3, 4 4, 55, and 6 6, respectively, of Fig. 1;

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary plan view of a roof made of the new elements;

Fig. 8 is a'sectional view on the line 8 8 of Fig. '7;

Fig. 9 is a plan view of'an alternative form of the new element;

Fig. 10 is a sectional view on the line lll-IIJ of Fig. 9;

Figs. l1 and 12 are sectional views on the lines H II and l2-I2 of Fig.10; and

Figs. 13 and 14 are plan views of multiple shingles having air chambersof the types shown .f in Figs. 1 and 9, respectively.

The roofing element, illustrated in the drawings in the form of ashingle, comprises a body 20 of hardened plastic material. The materialused for the purpose may be any of the plastic compositions now commonlyemployed in the manufacture of building products, but I prefer to employthe plastic material described in my copending application Serial No.54,714, iiled December 16, 1935. This plastic consists of a binder, suchas asphalt, and brous material in the form of deiibered wood,distributed therethrough and serving as a strengthening and reinforcingagent. When made of the composition described in the copendingapplication, the new element may be formed by extruding, pressing, andcutting operations, and can be produced rapidly and at low cost. v

Thebody 20 of the new element is of the customary dimensions of shinglesand it has a butt end 2l which is considerably thicker than the thethickness of the body decreasing gradually from the thick end to thethin end. The bodyif desired, may be of uniform width from one yend tothe other, but for some purposes,V I prefer to form the body with aportion, such as the length from the thick end 2| to a transversesection indicated at 23, which is of tapering width, with the leastwidth at the extreme end 2|. In this form, the remainder of the bodyfrom section designated to the thin end is of uniform width.

Within the body, are air chambers or ducts 24. Preferably, there is aseries of these air chambers lying parallel and extending from the thickend toward the thin end of the body. In the element illustrated, thereare eight such chambers, but a greater or less number may be employed,as desired. Adjacent chambers are separated by webs 25 of the plasticmaterial, and at the thick end of the body, the chambers are of thegreat- 5 sectional area until the body becomes solid, in

that portion adjacent the thin end.

The elements are preferably made by extruding plastic material through adie provided with pins which form the air chambers, and the chamberedweb then passes through shaping rolls which vary the thickness of theweb, making it alternately thick and thin, and then to cutting deviceswhich sever the web crosswise to form single units. By the use of propercutting devices, the thin end of the element may have a face 2Bsubstantially perpendicular to the at upper and lower faces 21, 28 ofthe element, while at the butt end, the unit has a beveled edge 29.

In making a roof of the new elements, they are laid side by side inoverlapping courses 30, 3 I, 32 with head-lap, as shown in Figures 'land 8. The elements may be 15 inches long, for example and in that casethey are laid so that they have an exposure 33 of 6 inches, a portion 6inches long which is lapped by the elements of the next adjacent course,and a portion 3 inches long indicated between the arrows A, B, of Figure8, which constitutes the head-lap, overlain by elements of two adjacentcourses. In laying the elements, they are placed with the beveled edge29 of the butt underneath so that the butt has an exaggerated appearanceof thickness. Also, if the elements are of the form shown in Figure r 1,which includes a portion of tapering width and another portion ofuniform width, the elements are laid with their side edges in contactthroughout the portions of uniform width referred to. This causes theexposed ends of the elements to appear to be separated as illustrated inFigure 7.

In a roof covered by elements laid in overlapping courses as described,every part of the roof is covered by chambered portions of at least twoelements. These chambered portions provide better insulation than thesolid portions of the elements, and accordingly, a roof made asdescribed has a double layer of insulation at every part thereof.

Instead of forming the elements as shown in Figures 1-6, inclusive,`they may have the form shown in Figures 9-12, inclusive. In thatalternative form, the elements consist of a body 34 of plastic materialof decreasing thickness from end to end, this body containing a seriesof air chambers 35 which extend across the body, instead of lengthwisethereof, and are separated by webs 36. With this arrangement, thechambers and webs are all of uniform cross-sectional area from end toend, but from the thick end of the butt toward the thin end, thechambers progressively decrease, and the webs progressively increase, incross-sectional area.

The elements in the alternative form may be made as before, by extrudinga web with air chambers running lengthwise, but in this case, the webhas a width equal to the length of a single element, or a multiplethereof. 'Ihe web is converted into separate elements by pressing andcutting operations, and the elements may be made either of uniform widthfrom end to end, as illustrated in Figure 9, or they may have a por tionadjacent the thick end which is of tapering width, depending on themanner in which the elements are severed from the web.

` chambers, however, are preferred, since if such elements are brokeneither in laying or after they are on the roof, the break occurs inlengthwise, and the two parts of the element can be employed as well asthe unbroken unit. When an element of the type shown in Figure 9 isbroken, the break is likelyto be cross-wise, and in that event, the

element cannot be laid in the ordinary manner, and if the break occursafter the element is on the roof, the butt end islikely to be dislodged.

The new elements may beimade in multiple shingle units if desired, andsuch multiple units are shown in Figures 13 and 14. The multiple elementof Figure 13 resembles the single unit oi' Figure 1 in that it is oftapering .thickness from one end to the other and includes air chambers3l extending from the butt end 38 toward the thin end 39. The butt endof the element is provided, as is customary, with cut-outs 40, theshingle illustrated having three such cut-outs distributed along itsbutt edge and two half cutouts 4| at its end edges. lThese cut-outs areformed by suitable cutting operations when the element ls made from acontinuous web.

The multiple unit shown in Figure 14 is similar to that shown in Figure13 except that the air chambers 42 are parallel to the butt and thinedges 43, 44, respectively. The Figure 14 element also has cut-outs 45and half cut-outs 46.

The new elements may be finished or surfaced with any of the ordinarysurfacing materials such as crushed slate and the like. When theelements are made of the plastic material disclosed in my copendingapplication referred to, I prefer to surface the yelements with thesurfacing disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 54,643, ledDecember 16, 1935.

I claim:

1. A building product which comprises a body made Wholly of hardenedplastic material and capableof having nails driven therethrough, saidbody being of decreasing thickness from one end to the other andcontaining a series of elongated f parallel air chambers, said chambersbeing closed and of progressively decreasing cross-sectional area fromthe thick end of the body toward the thin end, said chambers alsoterminating a substantial distance short of the thinner end of the bodyto provide a solid section at that end through which nails may bedriven.

2. A building product which comprises a body made wholly of hardenedplastic material and capable of having nails driven therethrough, saidbody being of decreasing thickness from one end to the other andcontaining a series of elongated parallel air chambers, said chambersextending in a. direction from end to end of the body and being closedand of progressively decreasing crosssectional areatoward the thin endof the body, l

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body being of decreasing thickness from one end to the other andcontaining a series of elongated parallel air chambers, said chambersbeing closed and extending across the body from side to side thereof,successive chambers being of progressively decreasing cross-sectionalarea toward the thin end of the body, said series of chambersterminating a substantial distance short of the thinner end of the bodyto provide a solid section at that end through which nails may bedriven.

4. A building product which comprises a body made wholly of hardenedplastic material, said body being of decreasing thickness from one endto the other, and containing a series of elongated parallel airchambers, said chambers being closed and separated by webs of materialand progressively decreasing in cross-sectional area from the thick endof the body toward the thin end to an extent such that the upper andlower walls defining said chambers at the ends where they are of lesscross-sectional area are substantially in contact with one another, saidwebs beingof progressively greater cross-sectional area from the thickend of the body toward the thin end.

5. A roong element which comprises a platelike body made wholly ofhardened plastic material and capable of having nails driventherethrough, said body being of decreasing thickness from one end tothe other and containing a series of closed chambers of progressivelydecreasing cross-sectional area from the thick end toward the thin endof the body, said chambers terminating a substantial distance short ofthe thinner end of the body to provide a solid section at that endthrough which nails may be driven.

6. A roong element which comprises a platelike body made wholly ofhardened plastic material and capable of having nails driventherethrough, said body being of decreasing thickness from one end tothe other and having a portion at the thick end of increasing widthtoward the thin end, the remainder of the body being of substantiallyuniform width, said body containing a series of closed air chambers ofprogressively decreasing cross-sectional area from the thick end of thebody toward the thin end, said chambers terminating a substantialdistance short of the thinner end of the body to provide a solid sectionat that end through which nails may be driven.

7. In a roof, a plurality of rooiing elements lying side by side inoverlapping courses, each element consisting of a body of decreasingthickness from the exposed end toward the overlapped end and containinga series of closed air chambers both in the exposed portion of said bodyand in that portion overlapped by elements of the next adjacent course,whereby the roof at all parts thereof is covered by the chamberedportions of atleast two elements, said air chambers being ofprogressively decreasing cross-sectional area from the thick end of thebody toward the thin end and terminating a substantial distance short ofthe thinner end of the body to provide a solid section at that end.

8. In a roof, a plurality of `roong elements lying side by side inoverlapping courses with head lap, each element consisting of a body ofdecreasing thickness from the exposed end toward the overlapped end andcontaining a series of closed air chambers both in the exposed portionof said body and in the portion overlapped by elements of the nexthigher course, whereby all parts of the roof are covered by chamberedportions of at least two elements, the body of each element being solidin the head-lapped portion thereof 9. A roong element which comprises abody made wholly of hardened plastic material capable of having nailsdriven therethrough, said body being of decreasing thickness from oneend to the other and containing a series of elongated parallel closedair chambers of progressively decreasing cross-sectional area from thethick end of the body toward the thin end, said chambers terminating asubstantial distance short of the thinner end of the body to provide asolid section at that end through which nails may be driven, saidbodyhaving a plurality of spaced cut-outs extending inward from thethick end edge.

10. A building product which comprises a body made wholly of hardenedplastic material of decreasing thickness from one end to the other andcontaining a series of elongated closed air chambers extending in adirection from the thick end of the body toward the thin end andprogressively decreasing in cross-sectional area from the thick endtoward the thin end to an extent such that the upper and lower wallsdening said chambers at the ends where they are of less crosssectionalarea are substantially in contact with one another, said body havingspaced cut-outs extending inwardly from its thick end edge.

11. A roofing element which comprises a body made wholly of hardenedplastic material capable of having nails driven therethrough, said bodybeing of decreasing thickness from one end to the other and containing aseries of elongated parallel closed4 air chambers extending parallel tothe thick end edge and of progressively decreasing cross-sectional areatoward the thin end of said body, said series of chambers terminating asubstantial distance short of the thin-A ner end of the body to providea solid section at that end through which nails may be driven, said bodyhaving a plurality of spaced cut-outs extending inwardly from its thickend edge.

THOMAS ROBINSON.

